Many inventions during the Industrial and Agricultural Revolution led to the creation of factories. Before the Industrial Revolution, the cottage system was used to produce products at home rather than at factories. The men would weave cloth, the women would spin thread, and the children would do farm work outside. Both weaving and threading used man power. Cloth productions are low because men weaved at home. This system changed throughout the Industrial Revolution due to the high demands of cloth, and all the new inventions.
Factory Systems
Many inventions during the Industrial and Agricultural Revolution including the Water Frame led to the creation of factories. Before the Industrial Revolution, the cottage system was used to produce products at home rather than at factories. The men would weave cloth, the women would spin thread, and the children would do farm work outside. Both weaving and threading used man power. Cloth productions are low because men weaved at home. This system changed throughout the Industrial Revolution due to the high demands of cloth, and all the new inventions.
Energy Change during the Industrial Revolution
Energy was an important factor during the Industrial Revolution. Before the industrial Revolution, hand power and animal power were used. Most tools and "machines" were run by hand since there was no mechanization yet. As more demands increased, people began finding ways of producing their products faster.
The Development of Water as an Energy Source
Water became one of the most popular energy sources for factories after the Water Frame was invented. Large factory machines that were too large for one person to operate was used near flowing water. Mills picking up energy from the rivers ran the machinery instead of manpower. Running water posed a problem: location. Cities during the Industrial Revolution was mainly port cities near the sea, for economical reasons. Since the factories are located near rivers inland, transportation would be a problem (See more here). As water power became even more popular, cities were started to be built around factories to accommodate the factory workers.
The Steam Engine and Coal Mining
James Watt's Steam Engine
During the Industrial Revolution, many factories used steam power as a replacement of water and man power. At first, steam engines were used to pump water out of mines, but James Watt's improvement allowed the steam engine to be used to run machinery. Thomas Newcomen invented one of the first steam engines in 1712 which only functions as a water pump, thus not making the steam engine efficient. Since the improvement of the Steam Engine by a Scottish Inventor, James Watt, the steam engine began to be used in many industrial factories. The Steam Engine became the most important invention during the Industrial Revolution
Coal Mining during the Industrial Revolution
Coal became an important aspect of the Industrial Revolution since the Steam Engine required coal. Coal was used as a cheap fuel source because of the shortage of trees. Watt's Steam engine used coal to boil the water into steam to generate power. The adoptions of the Steam Engine decreased the price and the process of coal mining.
(Video Above) - The History of the Steam Engine. (Source)
The Textile Industry and Important Inventions
Flying Shuttle
John Kay's Flying Shuttle
As high demands of cloth increases, weavers have to find a way to weave faster. Before the Industrial Revolution, weaving was done by hand. It was a very time-consuming and tedious work. John Kay (1704-1779) invented the Flying Shuttle in 1733, which allowed a weaver to weave cloth four times faster than before. The flying shuttle influenced allowed other inventions to be built, which lead to the development of factories. Before the invention of the Flying Shuttle, one weaver only required four spinners to produce its thread. After the invention, a weaver requires 16 spinners to adequately supply its thread. This led to another major problem. Since the Flying Shuttle required four times more thread, weavers spent more time in search of thread.
Spinning Jenny
Demands of cotton thread increased dramatically. Many inventors attempted to build new machines that would spin
Hargreaves's Spinning Jenny (History of the Worsted Manufacture in England, London)
thread faster. James Hargreaves (1720-1778), a weaver living in Lancashire, built what is known as the Spinning Jenny (1764). The spinning Jenny was the first spinning machine for cotton. By turning a wheel, a spinner can spin eight threads at once. Later improvements allowed a single person to spin eighty threads at once. The threads produced were weak and lacked strength, thus making it only suitable for some parts of the cloth. Hargreaves’s invention allowed adequate threads to be produced. The large size of the improved Spinning Jenny influenced future factories to be built.
Water Frame
Richard Arkwright noticed that weavers couldn’t keep up with the demand for cloth, despite the increase in production speed. He designed and built a larger spinning machine that would be able to supply enough threads for the weavers. His design became known as the Water Frame because it needed energy from a watermill to power it. The Water Frame was too large for cottage work (Domestic System) and therefore had to be place
The Water Frame
d in a building known as a factory. Since the factories used water as their main power source, the factories are usually built in areas where a good supply of fast-moving water was available, especially in mountainous areas. For the first time in the Industrial Revolution, people now worked outside their local community. Women who were spinners before the Water Frame was invented now left their homes and worked in factories where the Water Frames had been placed. The Water Frame factories are known as mills because there looked like large watermills.
Women and men were separated from each other during their work time. Men stayed home weaving while women left home to work at the factory, producing the yarn for the men to weave into cloth.
Spinning Mule
In 1775, Samuel Crompton invented the Spinning Mule, a combination between the Spinning Jenny and the Water Frame.
The Spinning Mule
The Spinning Mule produced a fine, stronger, and softer yarn that could be used in any kind of textiles. Many factory owners saw the potential of the Spinning Mule and bought several of it for their factories. The Spinning Mule could be used with the steam engines that were being invented. With the Spinning Mule, more factories were built all around the United Kingdom.
Power Loom
Patent Drawings for Edmund Cartwright's Power Loom
Edmund Cartwright visited Arkwright’s factory in 1784. He was inspired by the machines in the factory and began working on a machine that would improve the speed of weaving. He employed a blacksmith and a carpenter to help him. Together, they produced what he called a Power Loom. A Power Loom is a machine used to weave cloth faster with higher quality. In the beginning, the Power Loom didn’t perform very well. In 1787, Cartwright started a weaving mill in Doncaster, England. Two years after the mill was erected, Cartwright started to use Watt’s steam engine to drive his looms. All the tasks in the factory that had previously been done using manpower could now be performed mechanically. The Power Loom produced more cloth at a cheaper price, which lowered the price of cloth.
Whitney's Cotton Gin
Since the time when people started to grow cotton in India, they picked the seeds out by hand before they began spinning the cotton into thread.
Eli Whitney's cotton gin
In 500 B.C., cotton growers in India invented machines that allowed the seeds to be pulled out more quickly and easily. As people migrated inland, they discovered a type of cotton that could tolerate extreme weather. The machines invented by the Indians can no longer pick seeds out from the new cotton. Picking out seeds from cotton was a slow process, making cotton very expensive. Many people worked on inventing a new kind of machine that would get the seeds out of the new short-staple cotton. In 1793, Eli Whitney invented the Cotton Gin to pick out the seeds. The Cotton Gin had steel teeth that caught the cotton fibers, and used a system of pulleys to operate. Since most of the farmers at that time use the new Cotton Gin, clothing of cotton became cheaper. As a result of the Cotton Gin, slavery working in cotton fields in the United States increased.
The Bessemer Process
The Bessemer Process (1905: Sir Henry Bessemer, F.R.S.- An autobiography)
Sir Henry Bessemer (1813-1898) invented the process for mass-producing steel cheaply. He patented “a decarbonization process, utilizing a blast of air” in 1855 known as the Bassemer’s process. The Bessemer process removed the impurities from the iron by blowing air through the molten iron (oxidation). Impurities such as silicon, carbon, and manganese are removed and are skimmed off in the form of gas. Bessemer invented the Bessemer converter, a machine that heats and removes impurities from the iron.
Mass Production
Mass production is the production of goods in large quantities at a lower cost. Mass-produced goods are standardized because the machines producing the goods are consistent. Before the Industrial Revolution, cloths were produced at home or at small workshops in the village. Mass production in factories made it possible to manufacture goods faster at a cheaper price. Mass production allowed new cities to be built around new factories, seaports, or coalfields. The cities provided cheap housing for the factory workers.
Table of Contents
Many inventions during the Industrial and Agricultural Revolution led to the creation of factories. Before the Industrial Revolution, the cottage system was used to produce products at home rather than at factories. The men would weave cloth, the women would spin thread, and the children would do farm work outside. Both weaving and threading used man power. Cloth productions are low because men weaved at home. This system changed throughout the Industrial Revolution due to the high demands of cloth, and all the new inventions.Factory Systems
Many inventions during the Industrial and Agricultural Revolution including the Water Frame led to the creation of factories. Before the Industrial Revolution, the cottage system was used to produce products at home rather than at factories. The men would weave cloth, the women would spin thread, and the children would do farm work outside. Both weaving and threading used man power. Cloth productions are low because men weaved at home. This system changed throughout the Industrial Revolution due to the high demands of cloth, and all the new inventions.
Energy Change during the Industrial Revolution
Energy was an important factor during the Industrial Revolution. Before the industrial Revolution, hand power and animal power were used. Most tools and "machines" were run by hand since there was no mechanization yet. As more demands increased, people began finding ways of producing their products faster.The Development of Water as an Energy Source
Water became one of the most popular energy sources for factories after the Water Frame was invented. Large factory machines that were too large for one person to operate was used near flowing water. Mills picking up energy from the rivers ran the machinery instead of manpower. Running water posed a problem: location. Cities during the Industrial Revolution was mainly port cities near the sea, for economical reasons. Since the factories are located near rivers inland, transportation would be a problem (See more here). As water power became even more popular, cities were started to be built around factories to accommodate the factory workers.The Steam Engine and Coal Mining
Coal became an important aspect of the Industrial Revolution since the Steam Engine required coal. Coal was used as a cheap fuel source because of the shortage of trees. Watt's Steam engine used coal to boil the water into steam to generate power. The adoptions of the Steam Engine decreased the price and the process of coal mining.
(Video Above) - The History of the Steam Engine. (Source)
The Textile Industry and Important Inventions
Flying Shuttle
As high demands of cloth increases, weavers have to find a way to weave faster. Before the Industrial Revolution, weaving was done by hand. It was a very time-consuming and tedious work. John Kay (1704-1779) invented the Flying Shuttle in 1733, which allowed a weaver to weave cloth four times faster
than before. The flying shuttle influenced allowed other inventions to be built, which lead to the development of factories. Before the invention of the Flying Shuttle, one weaver only required four spinners to produce its thread. After the invention, a weaver requires 16 spinners to adequately supply its thread. This led to another major problem. Since the Flying Shuttle required four times more thread, weavers spent more time in search of thread.
Spinning Jenny
Demands of cotton thread increased dramatically. Many inventors attempted to build new machines that would spinthread faster. James Hargreaves (1720-1778), a weaver living in Lancashire, built what is known as the Spinning Jenny (1764). The spinning Jenny was the first spinning machine for cotton. By turning a wheel, a spinner can spin eight threads at once. Later improvements allowed a single person to spin eighty threads at once. The threads produced were weak and lacked strength, thus making it only suitable for some parts of the cloth. Hargreaves’s invention allowed adequate threads to be produced. The large size of the improved Spinning Jenny influenced future factories to be built.
Water Frame
Richard Arkwright noticed that weavers couldn’t keep up with the demand for cloth, despite the increase in production speed. He designed and built a larger spinning machine that would be able to supply enough threads for the weavers. His design became known as the Water Frame because it needed energy from a watermill to power it. The Water Frame was too large for cottage work (Domestic System) and therefore had to be placed in a building known as a factory. Since the factories used water as their main power source, the factories are usually built in areas where a good supply of fast-moving water was available, especially in mountainous areas. For the first time in the Industrial Revolution, people now worked outside their local community. Women who were spinners before the Water Frame was invented now left their homes and worked in factories where the Water Frames had been placed. The Water Frame factories are known as mills because there looked like large watermills.
Women and men were separated from each other during their work time. Men stayed home weaving while women left home to work at the factory, producing the yarn for the men to weave into cloth.
Spinning Mule
In 1775, Samuel Crompton invented the Spinning Mule, a combination between the Spinning Jenny and the Water Frame.The Spinning Mule produced a fine, stronger, and softer yarn that could be used in any kind of textiles. Many factory owners saw the potential of the Spinning Mule and bought several of it for their factories. The Spinning Mule could be used with the steam engines that were being invented. With the Spinning Mule, more factories were built all around the United Kingdom.
Power Loom
Edmund Cartwright visited Arkwright’s factory in 1784. He was inspired by the machines in the factory and began working on a machine that would improve the speed of weaving. He employed a blacksmith and a carpenter to help him. Together, they produced what he called a Power Loom. A Power Loom is a machine used to weave cloth faster with higher quality. In the beginning, the Power Loom didn’t perform very well. In 1787, Cartwright started a weaving mill in Doncaster, England. Two years after the mill was erected, Cartwright started to use Watt’s steam engine to drive his looms. All the tasks in the factory that had previously been done using manpower could now be performed mechanically. The Power Loom produced more cloth at a cheaper price, which lowered the price of cloth.
Whitney's Cotton Gin
Since the time when people started to grow cotton in India, they picked the seeds out by hand before they began spinning the cotton into thread.The Bessemer Process
Sir Henry Bessemer (1813-1898) invented the process for mass-producing steel cheaply. He patented “a decarbonization process, utilizing a blast of air” in 1855 known as the Bassemer’s process. The Bessemer process removed the impurities from the iron by blowing air through the molten iron (oxidation). Impurities such as silicon, carbon, and manganese are removed and are skimmed off in the form of gas. Bessemer invented the Bessemer converter, a machine that heats and removes impurities from the iron.
Mass Production
Mass production is the production of goods in large quantities at a lower cost. Mass-produced goods are standardized because the machines producing the goods are consistent. Before the Industrial Revolution, cloths were produced at home or at small workshops in the village. Mass production in factories made it possible to manufacture goods faster at a cheaper price. Mass production allowed new cities to be built around new factories, seaports, or coalfields. The cities provided cheap housing for the factory workers.
Works Cited